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Monday, 27 November 2017

Myanba Gorge

Myamba Gorge near the locality of Cathcart is a massive southern gorge connecting the ocean with the Alps. It hosts a zig-zag slot waterfall in the bedrock of an ancient river. The blue granite bed of the ancient river perhaps once flowed the other way back towards the Alps. But Myamba Creek now cuts a steep path of multiple zig-zags through the Bones of the Earth to the Towamba River and the ocean. Like all who are young, it dallies along the way, sculpting strange shapes as it goes.

The Gorge hosts a couple of unusual featuresFafnir VatnfallAn old miner once called this feature near the top of the gorge the Fafnir Vatnfall, after the old northern dwarf prince who through greed turned into a dragon guarding a cursed gold horde ( a fickle gold field was once found near here). Certainly, there are plenty of local dragons here. Large (5+') monitor lizards still patrol the gorge.If you look too long you might see other things in the water sculptured granite: a koala, a heart, a kangaroo, a slippery dip or a fleck of gold dust.

The PortalThis is a different type of a portal - to pass this way up the gorge, you must first construct a bridge from a first shelf (background) to the portal with a fallen log, and then a second fallen log to a second shelf (foreground). If pursued, you can easily escape by knocking the bridge down as you pass.The portal walls are decorated with stone flake carvings of sea creatures, and both uprights have the shape of fresh water fish found in the streams.

Stone or earth mound shaping is an often disregarded landscape feature - but it is a common element in the decoration or ceremonial usage of pinch points such as waterholes or waterfalls.My friend, +Monique Helfrichsaw an old man here - some of the carving are in the eye of the beholder,

But i like the old man as well :)WildlifeWatch for roos and goannas. In warm weather walk 'hard', to avoid meeting snakes (and keep careful watch for any that may be sleeping on paths.

LocationThe top of the Gorge is wheelchair accessible by a (old) wooden ramp that runs down a slight slope some distance.